Nokia and MakerBot team up for 3D printing live at MWC

Here’s something very cool at the Nokia MWC booth. The guys from MakerBot are here with Nokia’s Lumia 820 case reference design and they’re printing cases for the device right here on the show floor.

3D printing is still in its infancy, but MakerBot’s designs are looking really funky, making us all wish for a future where we can print out our own cases on a whim (I’m thinking day of the week cases, who’s with me?).

There’s not a lot more to tell you in words because really, you need to see the exhibit for yourself. Check out the picture gallery below as well as a short video demonstrating a brief section of the hour long process.

John, thanks for the response! Sorry I guess I still not understand. I have made the assumption that new material is only being deposited vertically, like an inkjet squirts ink down on a piece of paper. Is that a correct assumption? If that is true there would be no way to close the top of the vertical holes once the printer has laid down the bottom and sides of the hole. I hope that makes sense.

There are some limitations in terms of what size gap can be bridged over a vertical void, but small gaps can be closed. Larger vertical gaps would require the void to be closed by sloping the sides inward until they meet, which may take quite a few layers. The gap size that can be bridged depends on serveral factors such as the material and layer thickness.

Realistically these are only good for prototyping before you send it off to India to be mass produced. The cool thing is that in 20 years time well have a desktop version that can make the actual phone internals as well :)

Within only a few years a substantial proportion of the world’s population has adopted a new technology that involves placing a small radio transmitter up against the head, in some instances for hours a day. - TexasLending.com